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Post by smokey2013 on Nov 25, 2015 6:07:57 GMT -8
OK so here's the story. I bought smokey and bandit when they were both 16 weeks old. Bandit sadly passed away March this year leaving smokey on his own. Smokey is now over 3 years old. I bought 2 younger male gerbils (about 5-6 weeks old at the time) and tried the split cage to introduce them
Then had been eating and sleeping next to the divider so I decided to put them in together. They immediately started chasing each other (there was alot of squeaking). Cosmo tried humping smokey which he didn't take to kindly to and they ended up fighting. Luckily I got them apart before any damage was done
Now ive never tried introducing them since and I'm.not sure if I should get more gerbils to introduce to smokey
My other 2 gerbils (cosmo and moonshine) and just over 1 year old now
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Post by betty on Nov 25, 2015 6:38:14 GMT -8
Cosmo and Moonshine are now too old to mix with another gerbil really and are probably just fine on their own - you don't want the risk of inadvertently making them fight with each other. Weird that at 5-6 weeks they were already thinking about dominance - they don't normally do that until after 8-12 weeks really. Unless Smokey came across as very weak in gerbil terms?
However, I'm not sure whether you said Smokey was over 3 when you brought the pups - or whether Smokey is over 3 right now. Not that it makes a HUGE difference, but if Smokey is nearer 4 - he may well be wanting to end his days quietly. The average age of a gerbil is between 2-4 really, so spending possible 2-4 weeks split-caging him to a pup could very soon leave you with just the pup - and introducing 2 pups to a real granddad might not be what he had in mind.
However if he is nearer 3 years old and quite spritely - then maybe the pups could work for him; or you might consider finding him a single older gerbil to pair up so they can both live out their retirement together in peace.
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Post by t1gg3er on Nov 25, 2015 6:46:43 GMT -8
I assume from the fact they're now just over a year that Cosmo & Moonshine were 5-6 months old (not weeks?) when you tried to introduce them to Smokey? If that's the case then they were already adults & adult intros are harder than pup intros.
I have 2 young adult boys (they were around 6mths & 8mths at the time) who just wouldn't go together - all lovey dovey through the splitter but immediately went into a ball both times I tried to take the divider out. So I gave up on it & got two 6 week old boys. I gave the pups 2 weeks together to settle then separated them into splits with each of my boys. Both pairs went together within 3 days.
As Smokey is older, if you wanted to go down that route, it would probably be best to find a pair of pups (under 8 weeks) to introduce to him so you won't end up with another single gerbil when Smokey's time comes. But also consider Smokey's personality & health. Is he up to being introduced to a pair of unruly kids? And would he be prepared to take a submissive role if one of the pups wants to take over as boss when they mature? Otherwise you could try finding another single older boy or girl (I believe a girl over 2yrs is unlikely get pregnant) to keep him company.
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Post by t1gg3er on Nov 25, 2015 6:48:23 GMT -8
Ooops! Betty posted whilst I was busy typing! If anything she advises differs from what I said please ignore me & take Betty's advice  |
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Post by smokey2013 on Nov 25, 2015 6:55:05 GMT -8
Smokey is over 3 years old now. And he is pretty active. He runs in his wheel every night and he will run on my bed when I get him out.
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Post by smokey2013 on Nov 25, 2015 6:55:56 GMT -8
The funny thing is he wasn't bothered when moonshine started humping him, and he even did it to moonshine. But he totally flipped when cosmo did it
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